Tuesday, June 9, 2015

HOW 1MDB MONEY WAS INVESTED

1. I am intrigued by the ability of 1MDB to invest 42 billion Ringgit in so many businesses. Really I should be fully satisfied with how 1MDB expended the huge loan that it borrowed.

2. But unfortunately I am not. I am not, because the information came from the current CEO, Arul Kanda Kandasamy. And Arul has been caught lying quite a number of times.

3. Almost as soon as he took over management of 1MDB he announced that the money from Cayman’s Island has been returned. He said clearly and openly that he saw the cash i.e. one billion dollars in cash. Then he said it was statements. What are the statements? Anyway in the end the bank said no cash and only documents were deposited in it and the documents carried false signatures.

4. He must have told the Prime Minister about this fantastic pile of dollar notes so the Prime Minister answered the question in Parliament that the cash is in the bank in Singapore. It cannot be brought back because Bank Negara asks too many questions. The Finance Minister must approve or disapprove all Bank Negara strictures or approvals.

5. Then the banks denied that the cash is in the bank. Embarrassing. The vision has disappeared. No. It is not cash. It is documents. No, it is units. What units? Dunno. Which bank? Not clear. The mystery deepens.

6. So when Arul announced the investments of 42 billion Ringgit, could it be something else that he saw which was not there. And do people use borrowed money to pay tax? What tax? No profit was declared but tax was paid. How much? Cost of managing 1MDB run into billions!

7. In any case, many names which are known to have received money from 1MDB are not mentioned. Lots of money went to Hong Kong companies with funny names.

8. Has nothing been paid to Petro Saudi, to Jho Low, to Brazen Sky and others. Jho Low denies but why has he not proven that he did not receive US 260 million (RM 988 million) from 1MDB to buy a bank.

9. Arul had lied before. It is not inconceivable that on the 42 billion Ringgit Arul may be lying again. Where a chunk of the 42 billion Ringgit went is still questionable.

10. I don’t think we can resolve the problem of where the 1MDB money has gone through four-eyed meetings. Najib can resolve through proving beyond reasonable doubt that no money has disappeared from the 42 billion borrowed.

11. The intention of 1MDB I presume is to make money for the Government. Show how much profit the Government has made since 2009. Why do you have to borrow money to pay interest on the debts?

12. Why cannot the power plant shares be listed?

13. Why does 1MDB pay only 60 – 90 Ringgit for Government land which it now wants to sell at 2000 – 4000 Ringgit psf? And now the land bought by Tabung Haji has been sold to some Indonesians at a loss. The loss will be borne by the pilgrims.

14. Actually there are many questions that the Prime Minister can answer not to me, but to the public. The money does not belong to me alone. From the question asked by so many people they want to know where their money is.

15. The money belongs to the people. It is the duty of the police, the anti-corruption agency to investigate the complaints and the reports that has been made – including by Bank Negara. But the agencies have not investigated.

16. There is a climate of fear which restrains them from investigating. For as long as the Prime Minister is the Prime Minister, investigating things involving him is not going to be really possible. It is necessary that the PM relinquish his position and authority if the Auditor General, the Public Accounts Committee or even a Royal Commission is to reveal the truth.

17. I went to the “Nothing to Hide” forum hoping to hear explanations from Dato Sri Najib and to ask questions. But it was cancelled because of security reasons.

18. I watched a video clip of what happened. There was no threat to security except for Ali Tinju making a lot of noise. It is obvious he wanted the meeting to be cancelled. We know who he is in favour of. It is a pity. Najib could have explained everything and people like me would be silenced.